A Collection of the Most Inspiring Brene Brown Quotes
Inspiration from Brené Brown as she shares her personal quest to know herself and her dedication to understand humanity.
Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston, an inspiring author and storyteller. came to prominence after recording one of the most successful Ted Talks of all time with more than 30 million views, The Power of Vulnerability (watch the video below). Brené argued that to live a full life requires courage – and showing courage means doing things that make you feel vulnerable.
Brené has a way with words that makes you feel like she’s talking specifically to you.
I love her books, her Ted Talks, and her videos on Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday.
Millions have shared her message that we should stop worrying about being perfect, accept ourselves as we are, and engage meaningfully with one another.
Words of inspiration and wisdom from Dr. Brené Brown:
- Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.
Belonging is being accepted for you. Fitting in is being accepted for being like everyone else. If I get to be me, I belong. If I have to be like you, I fit in.
- Anger is a catalyst. Holding on to it will make us exhausted and sick. Internalizing anger will take away our joy and spirit; externalizing anger will make us less effective in our attempts to create change and forge connection. It’s an emotion that we need to transform into something life-giving: courage, love, change, compassion, justice.
- There is a line. It’s etched from dignity. And raging, fearful people from the right and left are crossing it at unprecedented rates every single day. We must never tolerate dehumanization—the primary instrument of violence that has been used in every genocide recorded throughout history.
- True belonging and self-worth are not goods; we don’t negotiate their value with the world. The truth about who we are lives in our hearts. Our call to courage is to protect our wild heart against constant evaluation, especially our own.
- There are infinite numbers of do overs for your teen girls.
- The most powerful teaching moments are the ones where you screw up.
- If we own the story then we can write the ending.
Midlife: when the Universe grabs your shoulders and tells you “I’m not f-ing around, use the gifts you were given.
- We have to be women we want our daughters to be.
- You are imperfect & you are wired for struggle; but you are worthy of love & belonging.
- It’s not about “what can I accomplish?” but “what do I want to accomplish?” Paradigm shift.
Want to be happy? Stop trying to be perfect.
- What we know matters but who we are matters more.
- Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.
- Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.
- Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.
- I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.
Faith is a place of mystery, where we find the courage to believe in what we cannot see and the strength to let go of our fear of uncertainty.
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- When I look at narcissism through the vulnerability lens, I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary. I see the fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose.
- Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life. Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it’s often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life paralysis.
- Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.
- I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.
- We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.
- Perfectionism is a self destructive and addictive belief system that fuels this primary thought: If I look perfect, and do everything perfectly, I can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame.
Healthy striving is self-focused: “How can I improve?” Perfectionism is other-focused: “What will they think?
- Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning and purpose to our lives.
Worthiness doesn’t have prerequisites.
- Here’s what is truly at the heart of wholeheartedness: Worthy now, not if, not when, we’re worthy of love and belonging now. Right this minute. As is.
- Perfectionism is self destructive simply because there’s no such thing as perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal.
- Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging.
- Wholehearted living is about engaging with our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion and connection to wake up in the morning and think, ‘No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough.’ It’s going to bed at night thinking, yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging.
- Perfectionism is not the same thing has striving to be your best. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment, and shame. It’s a shield. It’s a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from flight.
We can talk about courage and love and compassion until we sound like a greeting card store, but unless we’re willing to have an honest conversation about what gets in the way of putting these into practice in our daily lives, we will never change. Never, ever.
- Fitting in is about assessing a situation and becoming who you need to be to be accepted. Belonging, on the other hand, doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.
- When we can let go of what other people think and own our story, we gain access to our worthiness—the feeling that we are enough just as we are and that we are worthy of love and belonging.
- Stillness is not about focusing on nothingness; it’s about creating a clearing. It’s opening up an emotionally clutter-free space and allowing ourselves to feel and think and dream and question.
- Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.
Practicing self-love means learning how to trust ourselves, to treat ourselves with respect, and to be kind and affectionate toward ourselves.
- To be a whole-hearted person you have to have: courage (to tell your story with your whole heart), compassion (be kind to yourself and then to others), connection (let go of who you think you should be in order to be who you are), and vulnerability (having this makes you beautiful).
- “You can’t give children what you don’t have yourself,” says Brené Brown. “No matter how much importance you place on it.” For instance, you can’t raise children to be more resilient to shame than you are yourself. “I can encourage my daughter to love her body,” she says, “but what really matters are the observations she makes about my relationship with my own body. Damn it. So the question isn’t so much, ‘Are you parenting the right way?’ as it is, ‘Are you the adult you want your child to grow up to be?'”
- Being ourselves means having to find the courage to stand alone.
See for yourself:
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Dr. Brené Brown has spent years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five New York Times bestsellers – The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, I Thought It Was Just Me: But It Wasn’t and Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and The Courage to Stand Alone.
If you’re intrigued and inspired, you want to check out the latest of Super Soul Sunday with Oprah and Brené, Life Lessons We All Need To Learn.
Have you read any of Brene Brown’s books? Do you have a favorite? Which book would you like to read?
be the best version of YOU
I haven’t heard of her before but I have to check her out soon. My favorite quote has to be ‘My story matters because I matter. I am absolutely enough.’ .
I have never heard of her but I do love the quotes!
I have never heard of this person before but I absolutely love the quotes yiu shared! They are full of wonderful inspiration!
I have heard some of these quotes but I admit that I didn’t know who Brene Brown was! (I assumed she was a historical figure, not a living person.) These are wonderful!
What an inspiring post and a great motivator for feelings of self worth xxx
These really resonated with me. I have definitely become a much happier person since I let go of worrying about imperfections as much as I can.
Ooh! I LOVE this post and I adore Brene Brown’s incredible and inspiring message! I’ve been thinking about many of these things myself lately, as I’ve been reflecting on all that life’s taught me so far, and how I can make the next season of my life even better! (I turn 30 in a few days and it’s made me really stop and think!) xx
Sounds like an inspirational lady. We totally agree about ‘Courage starts with showing up’. Sometimes thats the biggest hurdle x
I’d never heard of Dr Brown before but I LOVE these quotes and would really love to watch the TED talks now!
Awesome I love Brene Brown. Her TED talk was the first I’d seen and I loved it.
So many inspirational quotes, I like second one. Thanks for sharing!
Never heard of Dr Brene Brown but these are some thought provoking quotes. Thanks for introducing him.
I’ve never heard of Dr Brene Brown, but she sounds so inspiring! I’ll definitely give her TED talk a listen.
Wow what an in inspirational lady Brene Brown is, I have loved reading these quotes 🙂
So many fantastic quotes. I love the one that it says hat we need to speak to someone like we would speak to someone we love, so true!
These are such inspiring, beautiful quotes! I really love the fourth one!
I would so love to meet this woman. I just learned about her through this post and her words are truly powerful. Being a writer myself, I find this very inspiring. Teary eyed with her ted talk too. thank you for sharing this!
These are amazing quotes! I really love them, particularly the courage one xx
I’ve only just come across Brene Brown but I keep hearing her name everywhere. The Universe is obviously trying to tell me something!
I had not actually heard of this lady before, but she sounds very wise… I found myself nodding as I read each and every quote, will be checking out her podcasts!
Such a lovely positive post! Loving all those quotes.
These are great quotes. I really like the one about self care.
Wow! Her quotes are really inspiring. I hvae never heard of her but she looks so cool
I have never heard of her but some of these quotes are really interesting and they do make you think. They are very inspirational.
I am loving all these inspirational quotes. It’s interesting how reading these quotes make you feel more confident, happy and positive.
I haven’t heard of her but what a wise and inspirational lady she surely is! I love the quote about courage especially.
I’d never heard of Brene Brown before, but I love these quotes and it’s definitely inspired me to find out more about her.
These are all such great quotes! Brene Brown is one of my faves!!
oh i do love to fill my home with stunning well being quotes like these in fact i bought some books from america had them shipped and ive kept them for special occasions , my neighbors birthday was yesterday and i put one in a frame and she said it was the best gift shes received ever she loved the personal touch and the meaningful quote
Great collection of quotes! Love the focus on self-care. That is one part of my life that only now I’m starting to look after because you can’t pour from an empty cup!
These are such beautiful quotes! Thank you for putting them together – It’s a great reminder and source of inspiration!
A morning read of her inspiring quotes sounds like the perfect way to start off each and every morning!
What great quotes! Such an inspiring way to start the day.
These are beautiful quotes to live by especially if you’re feeling a little down about yourself these days. There’s nothing that a little self love can’t fix.
Thank you for introducing me to Brene Brown, I have never heard of her before. I do love those quotes!
What an inspiring list of quotes from her! I haven’t read any of her books yet but definitely want to now.
Brene Brown is one one my favs! Always gets me through hard times.
I love these inspirational quotes! Thanks for sharing them 🙂
I’m booking marking this post for later as I love all these inspiring and inspirational quotes!! Thanks so much for sharing
Laura x
I love “what do I want to accomplish?” a great way to see it.
I haven’t read any of her books yet. Her TED talk is one of my favorites however and one that I have watched several times.
Worthiness doesn’t have per-requisites. Love that Brene Brown!
What a wonderful collection of inspiration. I love the first one especially about belonging and fitting in. How true.
Love each and every one of these! Brene’s the best!
Those are meaningful quotes. Thank you for the introduction to her.
I am all choked up! I needed to see this post today and it has so much meaning for me. I am going to schedule the Ted talks and learn more. (THANK YOU.) I really like: “Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.”
So much wow , I really needed this today. Brene Brown is my spirit animal. I especially love this quote: “I’M NOT F-ING AROUND, USE THE GIFTS YOU WERE GIVEN.”
We could all use a little bit of inspiration every day- no matter where we get it from!
I like the quotes about trying to live the authentic life. So true!
Brene Brown is such an inspiring soul. I often listen to her presentations, and her messages, while addressing deep issues are told in a very straightforward way. Thanks for sharing her wise words and allowing more people to know of her.
These are great quotes! I’ve heard the name before, I think it was from a speaker at my Mothers of Preschoolers group. And you are right, it sounds like she knows everyone personally and says just what we need to hear.
Loving all of these quotes! Needed some inspiration today!
I’ve not heard of her! These are great messages I will have to check out the podcasts